In the next 100 years or so, rampant use of chemical weapons will render the world a warzone. We’ll fight each other in whatever’s left of our major cities, with ludicrous robotic enhancements and chemically-induced mutations, barely kept in check by huge advances in cybertechnology. At least, this is how Anarchy Reigns tells it.

The game’s a fast-paced roaming brawler with a heavy leaning towards online play. There’s a single-player story mode, comprising of a series of missions (mostly fun, occasionally infuriating) interspersed between aimless roaming around and punching people for points. It uses the same structure employed by Platinum’s 2009 Wii title MadWorld, but where that game had a striking art-style and interesting scoring system, Anarchy Reigns has neither. It does have a story however, which is great news for people who can get emotional about a disastrously-proportioned, murderous bounty hunter getting upset over the death of a daughter roughly a twentieth his size.

Yes, the game is a bit silly, but for the most part is entirely aware of this. As well as the destruction caused by the game’s plethora of imaginative playable characters, there are plenty of environmental dangers to be aware of. It’s not uncommon, for example, for an aeroplane to crash right into the middle of a fight. Just don’t start wondering if there were innocent tourists on the plane, or you’ll feel sad. Less upsetting is the appearance of a giant kraken that you have to punch repeatedly in the face.

Anarchy Reigns is actually a sequel to MadWorld in all but name, which is great news for the three or four people who played it. That said, the way the game’s stories intertwine is outright contradictory in places, with characters who died in MadWorld making a reappearance here with no fanfare whatsoever.

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Casting the daft story aside, the game’s multiplayer modes are where Anarchy Reigns really comes into its own, though these also aren’t without their problems. The game thrives on being hectic, and challenging the player to forever monitor the ongoing chaos and attempt to use and control the space around them to their advantage. New players frequently complain that they’re busy fighting one opponent, only to get smacked across the back of the head by an unseen third player. But after you’ve had some practice, you learn to watch your on-screen radar and ensure that you never get surrounded, and that you always have an exit strategy if you need one.

The trouble is, you can forget trying to do any of that stuff when playing the vaunted 16-player Battle Royale mode - it is simply impossible to discern what’s happening half the time. It’s still pretty fun if you can get a big friends-only battle going, but anyone playing competitively is going to end up frustrated.

Still, if you can stick to the scaled-down Deathmatch or Capture the Flag modes, you’re in for a real treat. It’s here that Anarchy Reigns sets itself up as a competitive brawler that players can really get their teeth into. While it doesn’t compare to the likes of, say, the sublime Street Fighter IV, there’s enough skill and strategy involved to keep players coming back to refine their technique. With a bit of practice, you’ll slowly work out the many ways you can capitalise on any given situation, utilising the environment and your character’s repertoire of attacks to their greatest potential without leaving yourself exposed to a surprise attack from another player. Of course, no matter how good you get, you’ll forever come across people who are better than you. But like in any good competitive game, every skilled opponent is just another opportunity to learn.

Anarchy Reigns’ main issue is that it doesn’t quite stack up to its developers’ previous work. Platinum are famous for crafting unbelievably tight, fluid, responsive action games. And yet it’s clear that the focus on online play here - a first for the studio - has impacted upon their usual areas of expertise. Things feel a little stiff and slow at times, with the characters not quite responding to your input as you’d like them to. But then, from any other developer, it'd be entirely forgivable - it’s only because we know what Platinum are capable of that these things are noticeable.

For all its faults, then, Anarchy Reigns is still an inventive, compelling online brawler, the likes of which you won't have experienced before. It is technical and spectacular enough that it accommodates both skilled players and those who just want to mash some buttons and watch the sparks fly. It also allows you to grab the bottom of a helicopter mid-flight, then piledriver it down into the ground. The type of bonkers carnage that just never gets old.

Anarchy Reigns been given a limited release at a budget price. You may want to consider dropping £20 on it before it vanishes forever.